Harry's Place

Harry's Place is a British political weblog. It is a prominent voice of what it calls "the pro-liberation left" (a group more disparagingly referred to as "liberal hawks"). It was first set up in November 2002 and named for the Sham 69 song "Hurry up Harry" and the first name of the founder of the blog, Harry Hatchet. The logo on the front page of the blog is a quote from George Orwell: "Liberty, if it means anything, is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear".

It has been nominated for a number of awards, including a "Guardian" award for political blogs [ [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/redbox/page/0,9030,1135418,00.html The Guardian political blog awards] ] , the 2005 Weblog awards for UK blogs, [ [http://weblogawards.org/2005/12/best_uk_blog.php Weblog awards] ] as well as the UK section of the Islamic Human Rights Commission's 'Annual Islamophobia Awards' 2006 [http://www.ihrc.org.uk/islamophobia/] ; posts on the site had ridiculed these awards and openly invited nomination. [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2006/10/20/weve_been_nominated.php]

Politics

"Harry's Place" defines itself as centre-left and was supportive of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the concept of humanitarian intervention, and liberal dissident movements in the Islamic world. It is a supporter of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and is a defender of Israel's right to exist within safe and secure boundaries. It is highly critical of Islamism [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2005/08/31/islamism_and_democracy.php Islamism and Democracy (August 31 2005)] ] and of totalitarian, pro-Islamist and antisemitic tendencies on the left. [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2005/07/27/the_alliance_2.php The alliance (July 27 2005)] ] [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2005/10/23/left_antisemitism.php Left antisemitism (October 23 2005)] ] Nick Cohen noted that the blog was one of few places where it was being pointed out that "a section of the left has allied with religious fundamentalism". [Nick Cohen, " [http://www.newstatesman.com/200406070018 Saddam's very own party] ", "New Statesman", June 7 2004, p. 26]

The site is particularly critical of Ken Livingstone, [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2005/07/20/playing_softball_with_ken_livingstone.php Playing softball with Ken Livingstone (July 20 2005)] ] [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2006/02/08/ken_livingstone_hosts_muslim_brotherhood_propaganda_exercise.php Ken Livingstone hosts Muslim Brotherhood propaganda exercise (February 8 2006)] ] George Galloway, [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2005/09/25/my_sendoff_for_george.php My sendoff for George (September 25 2005)] ] RESPECT, [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2005/12/01/respect_and_the_missing_500000.php RESPECT and the missing 500,000 (December 1 2005)] ] [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2005/04/28/pensioner_attacked_by_respect_supporter.php Pensioner attacked by RESPECT supporter (April 28 2005)] ] and the Socialist Workers Party. [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2005/06/22/more_atzmon_weasel_words_from_the_swp.php More Atzmon weasel words from the SWP (June 22 2005)] ] It is a staunch opponent of religious and political censorship of all kinds, [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2005/10/27/kill_the_bill.php Kill the Bill (October 27 2005)] ] and was supportive of the 2006 London [http://marchforfreeexpression.blogspot.com March for Free Expression] . [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2006/03/27/freedom_of_expression.php Freedom of Expression (March 27 2006)] ] The site is also one of the main backers of the Euston Manifesto. [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2006/04/13/the_manifesto_a_personal_view.php The Manifesto - a personal view (April 13 2006)] ]

"Harry's Place" has a love-hate relationship with "The Guardian" newspaper. Harry has noted that he is still a "Guardian" reader [http://www.littleatoms.com/audio.htm "Little Atoms" interview with Harry] September 16 2005. (Links to MP3.)] and he has had several guest columns in "The Guardian's" technology and online commentary sections. [Harry Hatchet, [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/egovernment/story/0,,998616,00.html "A Blogger Writes"] , "The Guardian", July 15 2003] [ [http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/harry_hatchet Comment is Free] ] On the other hand, Harry's Place contributors disagree with "The Guardian's" editorial writers more often than not, and their vehement disagreements with various Guardian columns are a frequent subject of topic on their site. [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2006/03/29/bunting_cant.php Bunting cant (March 29 2006)] ] "Harry's Place" was a frequent subject of satire in "The Guardian's" satirical "Norman Johnson" column.Norman Johnson, " [http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/comment/story/0,,1587748,00.html Free Radical: Don't pretend Harry's exit is just coincidence] ", "The Guardian", October 8 2005, p. 9] In April 2006, "Harry's Place" mirrored its site under the domain name " [http://www.grauniad.org Grauniad.org] ", an old nickname for "The Guardian" due to its reputation for frequent typos and misspellings.

Contributors

Harry's Place was originally started by a writer using the nom de plume Harry Hatchet (aka "Harry" - none of "Harry's Place" writers use their full name), who was originally the sole writer. Harry was active in British anti-fascist and Marxist politics in the mid-to-late 1980s, and in this period was also a member of the Straight Left faction of the Communist Party of Great Britain. It is claimed that he took the pseudonym "Harry Steele" as a tribute to Harry Pollitt, former General Secretary of the CPGB, and the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin (though Harry claims it was a "piss-take" and "not a homage to anyone"). [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2005/03/28/alternatives_to_labour.php discussion of "Alternatives to Labour"] , "Harry's Place", March 28 2005.] Under this name he contributed to a number of far-left message boards and mailing lists, including "UK Left Network" and "The Politburo", a discussion board for British Communists, the latter of which he set up. [ [http://www.network54.com/Forum/393207/message/1129042732/Simon+Evans-Harry+Steele+%26amp%3B+Straight+Left+forgetfulness "Former Communists" discussion, October 11 2005] ] In this period he became well-known among fellow contributors for his support for "orthodox" Soviet Communism and his attacks on Trotskyists, in particular the Socialist Workers Party.

The September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center served as a "wake up call" according to Harry, prompting him to try and better understand what political forces led up to ittag] . In 2002, he began blogging as a way to clarify his own thoughts on political issues such as the impending war in Iraq, moving away from his Communism to embrace a more moderate social-democratic worldview. He made a public break with his former views in a Workers' Liberty message board discussion in October 2002, where he said Stalinism was a viewpoint "I now reject totally". [ [http://www.workersliberty.org/node/110 "Workers' Liberty discussion] ]

The rapid growth in the site's audience led him to include other like-minded writers so that the blog could be updated more regularly. Harry ceased to contribute regularly at the end of September 2005. [ [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,6903,1582745,00.html Media Matters] , "The Observer", October 2 2005, p. 9] tag]

Other contributors include Marcus, Gene Zitver (aka "Gene"), David T, and more recently, Adam LeBor, Brett Lock, Brian Meredith and others. Marcus is an old friend and political comrade of Harry's. Marcus attended the February 15 2003 anti-war protest in London, and came away with the opinion that "I don't know if I can consider myself left-wing anymore if this is the left". Marcus wrote about his views on the politics behind the February 15 demonstration, and soon became a regular contributor.tag] Gene is a resident of the United States and from a socialist and trade union background, and had spent several years living in Israel. Harry came across Gene's posts on a George Orwell discussion list, and invited him to start posting on his blog.tag] Gene is a strong opponent of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, whom he accuses of being authoritarianFact|date=February 2007.

David T is a lawyer and former lecturer. David T also came to blogging after the September 11 attacks. One of his close childhood friends was among those killed in the World Trade Center, while another close childhood friend became a militant Islamist, and appeared in the media applauding the attacks. He took up reading and writing blogs as a way of trying to making sense of these events. [Oliver Burkeman, " [http://technology.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,16559,1644361,00.html The new commentariat] ", "The Guardian", November 17 2005, p. 8] Journalist Johann Hari also contributed articles to the weblog until Autumn 2004, when he left to start his own blog.

Controversy

The comments pages on "Harry's Place" are an open forum, and there are many who visit the site simply to post and make their disagreement known. The level of debate can become quite heated.

"Harry's Place" is often accused of Islamophobia. [Bob Pitt, [http://www.islamophobia-watch.com/islamophobia-watch/2005/3/24/harrys-place-and-islamophobia-watch.html Harry's Place and Islamophobia Watch] , "Islamophobia Watch", March 24 2005] The site's contributors reply that they are criticizing what they see as a reactionary interpretation of Islam, not Muslims in general, and that they are expressing solidarity with Muslims who are oppressed by Islamists. [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2005/01/19/on_islamophobia.php On Islamophobia (January 19 2005)] ] [ [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2005/03/23/islamophobia_watch.php Islamophobia Watch (March 23 2005)] ]

In July 2008 Harry's Place posted on an Al Jazeera report in which the director of the British Muslim Initiative, Mohamed Sawalha, appeared to speak of the "evil Jew" [Harry's Place (2008) [http://www.hurryupharry.org/2008/07/02/british-muslim-initiative-we-resent-the-evil-jew-in-britain "British Muslim Initiative: "We Resent the Evil Jew in Britain""] . 2008-07-02. Retrieved on 2008-07-15.] . Al Jazeera subsequently changed the phrase to "Jewish Lobby". The British Muslim Initiative claimed that the translation of the original phrase was "malevolent" and implied that their President, Mohammed Sawalha was "anti-semitic and hateful". Mohamed Sawalha had been identified by the BBC [British Broadcasting Corporation (2006) [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/5234586.stm Transcript of Panorama programme "Faith, Hate and Charity"] , BBC1, 2006-07-30.Retrieved on 2008-07-15.] in 2006 as a senior Hamas activist. Mohamed Sawalha did not deny these claims.

On August 26, 2008, Harry's Place was briefly offline following a complaint to its DNS provider. [ [http://jennadelich.blogspot.com/2008/08/dont-panic-if-harrys-place-disappears.html Don't panic if Harry's Place disappears briefly] Explanations on back-up blog.] The site had reported that a member of the University and College Union's discussion list had posted links to white supremacist David Duke's website to support the call for a boycott on Israel. [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1219572143539&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull ] [ [http://www.hurryupharry.org/2008/08/27/going-nowhere Going Nowhere] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.hurryupharry.org Harry's Place]
* [http://www.neoconstant.com/314/support-harrys-place-blogburst Support Harry's Place Blogburst]
* [http://www.neoconstant.com/793/support-harrys-place-blogburst-part-2-harrys-place-offline/ Support Harry's Place Blogburst Part II]